Evangelists Target Unreligious New England

Church Planters Attempt to Persuade Northeast's Non-Believers

(AP)  It's hard to tell in the quiet of a color-splashed autumn morning, but Redeemer Fellowship Church is trying to set roots in a rough neighborhood. For churches, anyway.

Until this new church opened last month, its 19th-century Congregational church building in suburban Watertown was empty for nearly two years. Just across the street, a closed Baptist church is filled with condos. So is a former Catholic church a half mile away.

Dead churches are a familiar story in New England, which recent surveys indicate is now the least religious region in the country. But some see opportunity in a place where America's Christian faith laid its roots.

"You look at this area and it's a great area of potential, it's a great area of need," said Redeemer Fellowship pastor Chris Bass, a Houston native.

Several Christian denominations see New England as a "mission field" - a term often associated with unchurched, foreign lands. As they evangelize and work to plant new churches, they speak of possibility, but also frustration. The area's highly educated population is skeptical and often indifferent to their faith.

"About once every hour, I give up. It's tough, man," said a half-joking Joe Souza, a Southern Baptist missionary working north of Boston. "It's like, you found a cure for cancer and you want to give it away and nobody wants it."

Trinity College's American Religious Identification Survey released this year showed New England overtaking the Pacific Northwest as the least religious region in the country. Twenty-two percent of respondents here said they have no religious faith of any kind, highest in the country.

In a Gallup poll this year, all six New England states were in the Top 10 least religious in the country, with Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts claiming the top four spots.

New England's religious apathy has developed over decades, but it's striking where the Pilgrims landed seeking religious freedom and the great 18th-century preacher Jonathan Edwards helped spark the First Great Awakening. Stately churches near town centers all over the region are reminders of the central importance religion once held.

Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut do host the nation's heaviest concentration of Catholics, but those numbers have dropped substantially. In 1990, 50 percent of New England residents identified themselves as Catholic; by 2008, it dropped to 36 percent following the clergy sex abuse scandal in Boston, according to American Religious Identification Survey 2008.

Several groups trying to re-ignite New England's faith are theologically conservative, such as the Southern Baptists, Presbyterian Church in America and the Conservative Baptists' Mission Northeast. They say a reason for the region's hollowed-out faith is a pervasive theology that departs from traditional Biblical interpretation on issues such as the divinity of Jesus, the exclusivity of Christianity as a path to salvation and homosexuality.

The Rev. Wes Pastor, head of the NETS Institute for Church Planting in Williston, Vt., said New England's liberal mainline denominations, such as the United Church of Christ and the Episcopal Church, have been practicing a "different religion."

"I'm not saying it to be snooty, but they have a different belief system and that belief system ... is a profound departure from historic Christianity," said Pastor, whose group trained Bass and supports his Baptist church.

The Rev. Paul Nickerson, a church planting specialist at the UCC's Massachusetts Conference, said local churches declined because of a creeping insularity, not because "we're theologically inept." Progressive churches that refocus on the needs of the unchurched are growing, he said.

"The depiction that all the mainliners have lost the Bible, and are too progressive, and so conservatives have to come in and reclaim the territory, I don't buy that kind of stereotype," Nickerson said.

Theological differences aside, there's broad agreement that New England churches need to better serve people outside their walls and build the relationships that attract people to faith.

It's not easy among busy New Englanders who protect their time. Many lack even a basic knowledge of church life that's culturally ingrained elsewhere, said the Rev. Doug Warren of Christ the Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Portland, Maine, which he helped plant in 2001.

"They didn't grow up going to church, their parents didn't grow up going to church and, in many cases, their grandparents didn't grow up going to church," Warren said.

That means outreach must be deliberate and personal. Souza and his associate pastor, Celio Freitas, both native Brazilians, helped start a public youth soccer league in Boston to meet people. Their witness, they hope, leads to curiosity about the faith that guides their lives, and perhaps a visit to Celebration Church, which began meeting in a Saugus office building in January.

The work is slow and its fruits can be scarce. Souza said people are generally polite, even interested in talking about spiritual matters. But they don't hesitate to reject invitations. He recalled a man with whom he recently shared his faith at the mall courteously declining to even take a card.

Warren said the Presbyterian Church in America plants 50 churches a year, but has started just 10 since the mid-1990s in northern New England. Bass said he knows "most church plants anywhere fail, certainly here in this area."

Some church plants begin with a core of families who transfer from an existing church. But Bass and his wife, Brandi, came alone to Massachusetts last year. A core of about six families formed as they repaired their building and met people in their daily lives. The church ran radio ads and placed door hangers around town. Success will ultimately depend on how well church members follow Biblical mandates to serve and love their neighbors, he said.

"It's nothing new," he said. "It's not like ... what kind of gimmicks can we come up with?"

On a recent fall Sunday, a younger group of about 50 people gathered to hear Bass's message of salvation. The hymn "How Great Thou Art" was sung to a contemporary tune and echoed through an airy sanctuary that could fit seven times more worshippers. During fellowship afterward, Watertown resident Ralph Filicchia said he was drawn by curiosity. He said local churches have been killed by the "poison" of liberal theology, and he was eager to support a conservative church.

But the 74-year-old said he's lived in New England long enough to avoid rosy predictions. Churches that preach traditional dogma, such as Redeemer Fellowship, can be branded intolerant.

"Up here, it's tough, it's tough," Filicchia said. "It always has been."

[Son_of_Pan]

Why in the world do evangelicals think they need to "save the world"? What is with this god complex that they have? It's not the liberals that are poisoning this country. Evangelicals are not the cure to the "cancer".

[Keori]

Dear Evangelicals,

We New Englanders learned 350 years ago that religious fundamentalism is a Very Bad Thing. Since moving away from hate cults such as yours, we've managed to come up with the best public education systems and the lowest divorce rates in the country. In addition, we've been the leaders in civil rights progression since before kicking all that traitorous Confederate ass 160 years ago. We believe in leaving each other the hell alone to live our lives the way we want, and in treating everyone equally no matter their skin color, faith or lack thereof, gender, or gender of the person they love. As a group we are the most intelligent, forward-thinking, stable people in the nation. Our communities don't need to be soiled with your evil, divisive filth.

Go away and leave us alone. Take your glorified hate cult back to your Red states, have a nice day, and don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.

[stuart-johns2]

Is it really religion that is the problem? I don't think so at all. It's like anything...it is those who abuse it for their own sordid gain that are the problem. Very similar to the republican extremists in DC today.

[barbaram99]

I am a Maine born..Yet we have sep of state and church. I want to say this. If people wish to attend church they will and if the don't than they have their reasons. The churches are hard up for members and money..Frankly none are on the same page.. No one can force the church on persons who don't want to be part of it. We have a right to worship or not worship as we see fit. I am tired of the bloody church that have killed,and hurt, persons in the name of christianty. The persons that were burnt alive had phy handicaps.. They were blind, wheel chair users,the deaf,had health issues..The bloody church called them witches..The church had to abuse someone..They are more blind than I. They come in love...Sorry..more like force their way on others..I was not raised in the church. Jesus is not in the church..I don't attand as they want money I don't have. I do believe in Jesus . Peace of Christ..

[sciline]

There have been more atrocities committed in the name of "Religion"
than in the name of any other cause [or pursuit -so watch thyself!]
Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)
Tom Nass
5th Marine Division - WWII

[sciline]

I've learned that the more one rails and protests against the immorality and perversion of others, the greater the likelihood that they themselves are guilty of the same immorality and perversions they are railing and protesting against. Such people seem to abound in the clergy, in politics and among evangelicals.
The medical term for their diatribes is: <b>Pathological Delusion Transfer(PDT)</b>
Ergo, I would say to those, as yet "uncaught", hypocrites: "When thou doest protest too much" about anything ?Thou? feels to be immoral, perverse or unethical, "Thou" doest become suspect that "Thou" art guilty of that which "Thou" are protesting too much about!
Preacher heal thyself! And while you are at it, heal thy flock as well!
Tom Nass
5th Marine Division - WWII

[Son_of_Pan]

Simply put, the evangelicals dost protest too much.

[sciline]

Anyone who would proclaim that: "mine is the only religion" without following that statement up with: "FOR ME", I would have to consider to be of a cult mentality! E.g., the deluded thinking of a follower of a James Jones or David Koresh type. Insanity could also come into play here as well.
No one has any more actual proof that "theirs is the only religion" or "theirs is the only God" than the next believer!
Believe what you will and extend that courtesy to others who might believe other than yourself.
Tom Nass
5th Marine Division - WWII

[Ichabod09]

No one has any more actual proof that "theirs is the only religion"

Baptist, Methodist, USMC?

[chonder2]

All you New England yankees are going to hell I tell you,hell!

[Vet_Turner]

Repeat after me in a slow monotone voice in order to fully brainwash yourselfs in this rediculousness you call religion.

Far too many of the churchies use religion as a crutch not to do anything use for society.

[differnet]

*sigh* No one was ever "burned at the stake" for being a witch in Massachusetts. The Salem Witch Trials, which actually took place in Danvers, MA (at the time known as Salem Village), did not punish witches with burning. They were hung. I'm so tired of bad history being taught to people in this country.

[excoachken]

Apparently they did not burn enough innocent women at the stake the first time their SUPERSTITIONS imagined bad people in Massachusetts.

[thesevenveils]

Or maybe lessons from earlier religious fanatics are still strongly remembered.

[jsfinlongbeach]

Well, there goes the neighborhood. I get tired of these brainless clones trying to change me and everyone else. They try to take away, one chunk at a time, the right to express yourself and be who you are. Religion separates and divides. I look forward to the day when it is gone from OUR planet. I say go back into your closets and pray, and leave us alone.

[skyk-2009]

Shouldn't this be the REVERSE? Now I ask anyone of you to go anywhere in the WORLD or for that matter anywhere outside the South and ask people who has the better "Values", Mass or Alabama? LOL NO contest!

[DoubleHappiness88]

Here are some more evangelicals at work...

Churches denounce African children as "witches"
Churches involved in torture, murder of thousands of African children denounced as witches

(AP) EKET, Nigeria (AP) - The nine-year-old boy lay on a bloodstained hospital sheet crawling with ants, staring blindly at the wall.

His family pastor had accused him of being a witch, and his father then tried to force acid down his throat as an exorcism. It spilled as he struggled, burning away his face and eyes. The emaciated boy barely had strength left to whisper the name of the church that had denounced him - Mount Zion Lighthouse.

A month later, he died.

Nwanaokwo Edet was one of an increasing number of children in Africa accused of witchcraft by pastors and then tortured or killed, often by family members. Pastors were involved in half of 200 cases of "witch children" reviewed by the AP, and 13 churches were named in the case files.

Parishioners take literally the Biblical exhortation, "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live."
__

"Even churches who didn't use to 'find' child witches are being forced into it by the competition," said Itauma. "They are seen as spiritually powerful because they can detect witchcraft and the parents may even pay them money for an exorcism."

That's what Margaret Eyekang did when her 8-year-old daughter Abigail was accused by a "prophet" from the Apostolic Church, because the girl liked to sleep outside on hot nights - interpreted as meaning she might be flying off to join a coven. A series of exorcisms cost Eyekang eight months' wages, or US$270. The payments bankrupted her.

Neighbors also attacked her daughter.

"They beat her with sticks and asked me why I was bringing them a witch child," she said. A relative offered Eyekang floor space but Abigail was not welcome and had to sleep in the streets.

Members of two other families said pastors from the Apostolic Church had accused their children of witchcraft, but asked not to be named for fear of retaliation.

The Nigeria Apostolic Church refused repeated requests made by phone, e-mail and in person for comment.

___

Associated Press researcher Rhonda Shafner in New York contributed to this report

[gonesouthern]

"The problem is not just a decline in religious participation. It is an overall decline in civic participation".

NOT SO FAST...
Trying to lump lack of church participation in with a over all decline in civic participation is just a face saving comment to try and justify and dilute the loss of followers of organized religion...
People just have become smarter and are not so willing to buy into something they have seen as just one side of the coin, maybe the wrong side...

[DoubleHappiness88]

Gonesouthern, do not confuse religious participation with civic participation. There is nothing civic or civil about religion.

RELIGION POISONS EVERYTHING.

[Ichabod09]

by DoubleHappiness88 October 28, 2009 11:49 AM EDT
Gonesouthern, do not confuse religious participation with civic participation. There is nothing civic or civil about religion.

RELIGION POISONS EVERYTHING.

Dang Python, you appear to be more of a fanatic about religion than the Christians. Never seen one person more obsessed with religion than you-wonder why? Snicker

[dangyankee69]

The problem is not just a decline in religious participation. It is an overall decline in civic participation. At their hearts churchs are civic associations. People who share a belief system form a community to provide mutual support and protect those things that they believe are most important. For the last half century there has been a profound erosion of all aspects of civic community, and this includes churchs.

Does this mean that people are getting a higher percentage of their values instruction from school and the mass media? It does. This can be seen as the reason for a decline in some of the secular values that many see as important (service, thrift, work, tolerance, etc.) it also has led to the virtual extinction of ecclesiastical values (Christ is the Savior of the world, God is the source of all that man receives and enjoys, There is evil in the world).

I believe that these 'missionaries' in New England have a tough road in front of them. Unfortunately those that they reach will have few opportunities to enjoy the blessings of Christian fellowship if they remain in New England. They will find that their best way to improve their lives is to leave.

There are some striking similarities between 21st century New England and 19th Century England. Many emigrated to the US (and settled in the west) so that they could live lives that were based on the values found in the basic tenets of Christ's teachings. After all who do you think settled the Great Basin.

[DoubleHappiness88]

"About once every hour, I give up. It's tough, man," said a half-joking Joe Souza, a Southern Baptist missionary working north of Boston. "It's like, you found a cure for cancer and you want to give it away and nobody wants it."

Joe Souza is self-deluded. He thinks he has a cure. In fact, it is a cancer he is trying to impose on New England.

Take a leaf from Thomas Jefferson, New England. Use a horsewhip on those inbred evangelicals and drive them back to their Alabama tent shows.

[doc_holliday76]

Several Christian denominations see New England as a "mission field" - a term often associated with unchurched, foreign lands. As they evangelize and work to plant new churches, they speak of possibility, but also frustration. The area's highly educated population is skeptical and often indifferent to their faith.
----------------------------------------------






Proof that those from the uneducated and backward RED states have a need to push their evangelical beliefs and religious crutch on others, but the highly-educated aren't buying their propaganda!

[DoubleHappiness88]

Centuries of witch-hunts and other Christian atrocities have taught New Englanders that RELIGION POISONS EVERYTHING. Ethical, intelligent people want no part of religion.

[gonesouthern]

The far northeast has not forsaken God, just churches and so-called organized religion as a whole.
As pointed out above the area is over abundant in intelligent people. With intellect comes questions. These people now question the long thought belief that organized religion is the salvation of man and are seeing that religion as a whole is to blame for many of the conflicts in human history.
Turn on your TV to any tel-la-vangelist male/female and you can view a exercise in salesmanship of the highest order...
Wait long enough and you will see these so called "men of god" exposed for what they really are...
Look at the underbelly of most any religions and you will find that man has turned them into something to be twisted and used for thier own self interests so it is understandable that many now question the true value of religion.
Do not brand me as a "nut case or as a true believer" in any way.
I just understand what these people now see and I'm very skeptical and turned off to organized religion as well.

[babooph]

These deluded religious whacos should see some psychiatrist instead of being a pest in N.E.

[inketolstoy]

"Success will ultimately depend on how well church members follow Biblical mandates to serve and love their neighbors, "

Yeah, we don't need no crazies pestering their neighbors with help. Much better to have a society that will vidiotape their neighbor being raped than to have deluded people always wanting to talk about good and right.

[skyk-2009]

inketolstoy, well if the American Taliban is where people are looking, I'd say that's not a very good area. Most American's are beginning to understand that the ONLY thing these Extremist have to offer is hate for your neighbor for no other reason than they don't agree with your religious beliefs. That's not what the nation should be about and they, the Religious Right, need to address that as well as a VERY bloody past.